What Is Photography?

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Photography is the series of actions involving light or electromagnetic radiation to record images of objects on various surfaces. Photography always requires light to duplicate the real-life image being taken. Photography enlists the use of a camera to capture the image needed to produce the recreation of the image onto photographic film.

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Thomas Wedgwood and Sir Humphry are credited with discovering photography when they created an early form of a picture called a photogram. Johann Heinrich's earlier discovery that silver nitrate darkened when exposed to light was a significant contributor to this photogram.

Whether digital or traditional photography, the 10 most popular forms of the art and science are landscape, aerial, portrait, sports, wildlife, family, event, fashion, architectural and macro. Each area of photography requires a specific type of lens, lighting and use of various angles.

Photography can be studied in educational institutions, or it can be learned informally as a hobby and consistent practice.

The most important rule of photography is the rule of thirds. There are various factors to consider when structuring a photographic image, but the essential rule is to visualize the viewfinder as being separated into nine equal blocks. Following the rule of thirds requires photographers to place the desired image in one of the four places where the lines would intersect to bring balance into each image.